The conventional manufacturing process of a part begins at the design stage. During the design stage, a party that desires a part sets certain requirements for the part. The part may have certain size and shape requirements, it may need to be made from a specific material, and it may have necessary hardness and conductivity limits. Once a party establishes a description of the finished product with any additional requirements, the party must ascertain the manner of physical construction of the part.
During the construction stage, a party (which may or may not be the same party that desires the part) must select a machine and must design and manufacture tooling or select tooling to be used with the machine. The party must set up the machine with the tooling and materials. Once the machine is set up with the tooling and materials, the party can begin the physical production of the part.
As the part is produced, the machine operator may need to change or replace tooling and adjust the machining process. Through this construction process, or numerous cycles of this process, the part is manufactured.
The conventional systems and methods for manufacturing parts rely primarily on human experience to select settings, such as speed and temperature, and require a party to adjust the machining process to account for problems that arise. As machines become faster, stronger, and more complex, users often incorrectly use and, often, under-use the machines.
Moreover, machined-product purchasers encounter problems using multiple contractors that use varying materials and varying machining processes that result in parts with different characteristics and qualities. Such problems result in a high percentage of rejected parts, wasted time in attempting to use varying parts, and other challenges.
Part manufactures have made various attempts to solve these problems. Such conventional solutions include the reduction of speeds, rates, and depths of cut to prevent vibrations or chatter, decrease tool wear, and produce smoother surfaces, thereby under-using a machine. Other attempts to solve the problems of conventional systems and methods include outsourcing the manufacture of a part or hiring a consultant to suggest adjustments to the machining process, but these methods also lead to adjustments that result in under-use, and inefficient use, of machines.
There is, accordingly, a need in the art for an improved method and system for the manufacture of parts, for selecting a vendor capable of producing the parts, and for determining an optimal machine and tooling combination.